New Delhi, June 19 -- The government has mandated compulsory facial recognition technology across India's vast Anganwadi network to expand biometric verification for the country's flagship nutrition and childcare programme.

A directive from the ministry of women and child development, dated May 30 and seen by Hindustan Times, outlines a strict phased implementation affecting take-home rations distribution, child attendance tracking, and beneficiary registration through the Poshan Tracker application.

The Face Authentication feature, previously available only at take-home rations distribution points, became accessible within beneficiary profiles on the Poshan Tracker app as of May 30 2025. Beneficiaries can now perform their own onboardi...